Morgan Park Academy’s Upper School math team achieved a program-best 10th-place finish at the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) state competition, earning a trophy, six plaques, and 27 individual medals at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on May 4, 2019.
Competing against 55 similarly sized schools from across the state, MPA earned its first top-10 finish thanks to the efforts of seniors Murphy Chen, Bryan Coronado, Ethan Deng, Tony Tang, and Will Wei; juniors Chelsea Chai, Jason Chen, Anthony Jurek, Celeste Kettaneh, Shane Liu, and Luming Zhao; sophomores Sabrina Eng, Shuji Lu, Oscar Zhang, and Wayne Zhang; freshmen Tiffany Chen, Elijah Davis, Tom Gu, Chris Ji, Lydia Liu, and Merlin Mo; and coaches James Goehmann and Catie McAlister.
“Congratulations are in order to every single team member,” said Goehmann, who teaches Upper School math. “Even in the events in which we did not win a plaque or a medal, the points those students earned were crucial to our earning the 10th place trophy. We edged out the 11th-place team by only six points, so every point counted.”
>> READ MORE: ACADEMIC CHALLENGE TEAM WINS 6 STATE MEDALS
MPA finished in the top 5 in four events and in the top 10 in three others, including a first-place individual finish by Merlin in algebra 1.
ICTM STATE FINALS (DIVISION 1A)
Junior-Senior 8-person team – 1st place
Chelsea, Jason, Celeste, Shane, Murphy, Ethan, Tony, and Will
Freshman-Sophomore 8-person team – 5th place
Tiffany, Tom, Lydia, Merlin, Sabrina, Shuji, Oscar, and Wayne
Junior-Senior 2-person team – 10th place
Tony and Will
Algebra 1 – 10th place
Tiffany, Elijah, Tom, Chris, and Merlin
NOTE: Merlin finished 1st among 140 individuals competing.
Precalculus – 5th place
Murphy, Bryan, Ethan, Tony, and Will
Four-Person Relay – 2nd place
Lydia, Shuji, Jason, and Ethan
Four-Person Relay – 10th place
Chris, Sabrina, Celeste, and Murphy
